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SALEM -- Perry Township trustees plan to ride around the township next month looking for problem properties and finding ways to solve the issues they cause neighbors.
The topic came up during the zoning report and after West State Street resident Doug Sampson asked trustees if he could build a 6- to 8-foot-tall mound and place a 6-foot-tall fence on top to block out the neighbor's property.
"I don't know that there's anything we can do to prevent it," Zoning Officer Allan Wolfgang told trustees after Sampson left the Zoom meeting.
Sampson lives in the 1200 block of West State Street and said his new neighbors are creating a nuisance and he wants to build a fence, but learned from Wolfgang that the fence is limited to 6 feet. He said that won't block what he wants to block.
He told trustees he's looking at a cost of $10,000 for construction of the mound, which would also be 6 to 8 feet wide, then build the fence on top. He wanted to know if he was doing the right thing before spending the money.
When asked if it would create any water problems on the other property, he said there will be a natural watershed and most of the water would still go on his property.
Trustee Jim Armeni asked if the zoning code covered something like that and Wolfgang said it doesn't cover landscaping. He added, though, that a variance may be required, noting that's "a pretty big mound."
"That doesn't sound like a very good appearance," Wolfgang said.
Sampson said that's the only way to not see the other property.
Trustee Chair Steve Bailey said it sounds like a special circumstance and suggested trustees come over to look at the property and get back to Sampson.
Sampson also talked about a nuisance property on Benton Road and asked who another neighbor on West State Street could talk to about an erosion problem with a creek. Armeni said it would depend on the location, if it's in the right-of-way, it would be ODOT, if it's further from the road, then it's the property owner's responsibility. He suggested talking with the Columbiana County Soil and Water Conservation office for guidance.
In his zoning report, Wolfgang reported issuing nine permits in March and five so far in April. He talked about three nuisance properties, including the one on West State Street. He mentioned another property on Benton Road at the end of Allen Road and one on Depot Road behind the township's southern fire station.
He also asked about getting a property on Beechwood mowed. The property had been a nuisance and they held off doing anything in the winter, but he thinks now may be the time to move forward.
As for the mound and fence plan, Fiscal Officer John Volio asked why the resident couldn't just get a variance for a 16-foot tall fence. Wolfgang said that would be big.
He said the other property is obviously a nuisance property and if the township could get the property under control, the neighbor wouldn't have to resort to putting up a fence. Other residents have done the same. He said he sympathizes with them.
In other business, trustees hired two new part-time police officers on a probationary basis effective Monday. Mathew Dodge, of East Palestine, and Nathanial Kotas, of Columbiana, both graduated recently from the Youngstown State University Police Academy.
Trustees also agreed to purchase four "No Engine Brake" signs for the bypass and authorize the Ohio Department of Transportation to install the signs, which cost $40 to $50 each.
The township sold two police cars online recently for $15,000, Bailey reported. Volio reported receiving a refund of $23,517 from last year's paving project which will go back into the road fund.
The Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department will hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 4 to 7 p.m. May 15 at the Salem Eagles on North Ellsworth Avenue. The cost is $10 for adults and $6 for kids.
The next trustee meeting is 4 p.m. April 26.
mgreier@salemnews.net